1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to multimedia systems and methods and, more particularly, to a system and method for dynamically determining multimedia transmission based on communication bandwidth.
2. Introduction
The increasing accessibility to the Internet has fueled a corresponding increase in the accessibility of multimedia content. Users are becoming increasingly accustomed to accessing various forms of multimedia content such as movie trailers, news clips, sporting highlights, etc. As is well known, the user experience in accessing various forms of multimedia content is highly dependent on the bandwidth capacity of a user's network Internet connection.
Traditional dial-up connections at 56 k have continued to represent the dominant form of user access to the network (e.g., Internet). While higher bandwidth integrated services digital network (ISDN) services have existed for some time, only recently have cable, satellite and digital subscriber line (DSL) service providers been able to significantly accelerate the proliferation of broadband network access.
Broadband network access has enabled significant improvements with a user's experience in accessing multimedia content. A most notable example is the support of higher frame resolution levels through the higher bandwidth connections.
As a user's network connection has significant implications on his experience with multimedia content, what is needed is a mechanism that maximizes a user's experience based on the available bandwidth.